Rep. Luis Gutierrez, one of the leading crusaders for immigration legislation in the House, said Wednesday that he is officially giving up on House Republicans and declared the effort dead for the year.

The Illinois Democrat said he is now turning his attention to pressuring the White House to use executive action to stem deportations.

“No one tried harder than I did to keep the two parties talking about how to move forward on immigration,” he said, noting that there are some House Republicans who support action for political and policy reasons. “But months passed and Republicans turned their backs on their own members, turned their backs on the American people, turned their backs on the business community, on Latino and Asian voters, and on those trying to save the Republican Party from itself.”

It has long been assumed that if Republicans do not act this summer, there will be no time or opportunity later this year to do so. This spring, Mr. Gutierrez said Republicans had until the July 4 congressional recess to show they plan to move legislation. That recess begins Friday, and there is no sign of any legislative movement. Whatever dim hopes were remaining this month appeared to die with the defeat of Majority Leader Eric Cantor by a challenger who campaigned on an anti-immigration platform.

It’s a crushing disappointment to immigration activists who in the wake of President Barack Obama’s re-election were buoyed by the president’s commitment to the issue and support from many Republican constituencies for their cause. Then, a year ago, they were encouraged by a bipartisan vote in the Senate for a sweeping bill that offered a path to citizenship to millions of people in the U.S. illegally, as well as reforms to the legal immigration system and more enforcement.

But resistance was always high among House Republicans, and inaction is a win for those who see the Senate bill as either amnesty for lawbreakers or unfair competition for American workers, and for those Republicans who have no interest in taking on a divisive issue with little relevance to their mostly white districts.

Mr. Gutierrez said Wednesday that President Obama “now has no other choice” but to use his own authority to reduce deportations and ensure that “the people who we are deporting are detriments to our communities, not assets to our families, economy, and society.”

Last month, the White House was prepared to put forward a set of adjustments to deportation policy—for instance, saying that people who have immigration violations but no other convictions are not priorities for deportation. But activists are pressing for something much bigger—affirmative permission for many people living in the U.S. illegally but pose no public safety risk to stay and work.

The White House has already signaled that it is reluctant to take such a bold move. That might be even harder now given a recent surge in people coming to the U.S. without permission from Central America, many of them children traveling alone.

Republicans say they are making the treacherous journey because the Obama administration has signaled that they will not be deported. White House officials dismiss that but acknowledge that there is “misinformation” circulating that those who reach the border will be allowed to stay.

House Speaker John Boehner has repeatedly said—in public and in private—that he wants to act on immigration but he has been unable to persuade his fellow Republicans to take on a divisive issue in the middle of an election year. Republicans have also blamed Mr. Obama, saying he cannot be trusted on immigration because he is not enforcing other laws, such as his health care program.

“The biggest roadblock to immigration reform is that President Obama – over and over again – refuses to enforce the law as written,” Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said Wednesday.

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.